(Yicai) Oct. 31 -- Shares of the green energy generation unit of China Three Gorges jumped after saying it will invest CNY71.8 billion (USD10.1 billion) to build a large new energy power supply base in a desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Shares of Three Gorges Renewables Group [SHA: 600905] rose 3.3 percent to end at CNY4.75 (67 US cents) apiece today, after earlier surging by as much as 6.5 percent. The broader Shanghai market climbed 0.4 percent.

The projects will include wind and solar power stations and be located in southern Taklamakan desert, Three Gorges Renewables announced late yesterday. The firm will set up a joint venture with three affiliates to oversee the investment, construction, and operation of the base, it added.

According to the project plan, the base will have an 8.5 GW solar plant and a 4 GW wind plant, along with supporting energy storage facilities with a capacity of five gigawatt-hours and six 660-megawatt thermal power generating sets tasked to keep the output of electricity balanced. It will likely take three to four years to build.

Three Gorges Renewables will be the biggest shareholder of the JV with a 34 percent stake, the Beijing-based company noted. The venture will contribute CNY18 billion in cash, or a quarter of the project's total investment, while the remaining funds will mainly come from bank loans, it pointed out.

The power generated by the base will be transferred around 2,000 kilometers to economically vibrant Sichuan province and neighboring Chongqing via an ultra-high voltage power transmission line the State Grid Corporation of China plans to build, Three Gorges Renewables noted. About 36 billion kilowatt hours of electricity are expected to be provided to Sichuan and Chongqing a year after the project starts operating at full capacity, helping to ease the tight power supply in the region.

On the same day, Three Gorges Renewables reported its net profit rose 14.7 percent to CNY1.1 billion (USD154.5 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier thanks to generating more power after newly-built projects became operational. Its revenue jumped 20 percent to CNY6.7 billion.

Editor: Martin Kadiev